It Starts With One
by aroundpeginasquarehole
Summary: The dream team didn't just rise out of the dust out of nowhere. It all starts with one. Multi-Chapter. Pre-Series. Rated T for slight language. Edited by the lovely Smiley612.
1. One

_**One**_

She walks into the precinct, and her body buzzes as she realizes that this is her new home. She glances towards Captain Montgomery's office and accidentally catches his eye, where he gives her an affirmative nod.

She returns the nod with a small smile and heads to her desk, feeling her breath hitch when she sees the name plate with "Det. Beckett" on it.

She pulls on her ponytail, tightening it to make sure it doesn't fall out, before sitting down at her desk. She smiles as she pulls out the elephants her mom had had on her desk out of her bag and sets them in front of her, setting them towards the rear, and she leans back in her seat, reveling in the moment.

The elevator pings and she turns around to see the other two men she met last week, the two whose team she will be apart of.

"Hey, Beckett!" Ackerman exclaims over the buzz of the floor, and Kate smiles.

"Hey, guys." She responds with a smile, spinning her chair towards them, her hair tickling in between her shoulder blades.

"First day as detective," Ackerman says as he and Vega stop at her desk. "You excited?"

Kate rolled her eyes. "It's just another day." Both looked at each other and then back at Kate.

"Whatever you say, Beckett," Ackerman said, walking back to his desk with Vega following behind him.

They all sit at their desks doing paperwork, when Ackerman's phone goes off.

"Ackerman," He answers. Beckett and Vega watch as Ackerman scribbles down something, then he looks up at them as he hangs up.

"Body in a warehouse on 12th." They nod, grabbing their jackets for the cold winter day out and Beckett smiles as she realizes that yes, these guys are her team, and this is real, and she's _finally_ made detective.

"Beckett, you coming?" Ackerman yells from the elevator doors.

"Right behind you," she calls, pulling up her jacket and rushing after them.

They ride down to the ground floor, Ackerman and Vega turning back to look at her.

"So Beckett," Ackerman starts, leaning against the back of the elevator. "How long you been on the force?"

She glances down at the elevator floor, knowing that as soon as she says how long, they'll know she'll be NYPD's youngest to make detective before some woman named Victoria Gates.

"Um...17 months."

"17 months?!" Vega exclaims. "And you're already a detective?! How much cock did you have to suck to jump rank that fast?!" Kate has to swallow down the rage that builds up inside her and Ackerman swats at Vega, watching as Beckett balls her hands into fists.

"She probably worked a hell of a lot harder than you Vega. Now why don't you shut your trap." The elevator dings and Vega storms out, leaving Beckett and Ackerman to trail behind him.

"Don't worry about him," Ackerman says, gesturing towards Vega who was climbing into the driver seat of a cruiser. "He'll be leaving soon."

Beckett looks up at him. "And how do you know that?"

Ackerman looks down at her. "Because if he gets one more complaint filed against him he says he's going to the Narcotics division at the 32nd."

"And what makes you think he's gonna get another complaint?"

"Explain to me how you got detective?" Beckett rolls her eyes.

"He's that bad?" She asks as they climb into a different cruiser.

"Let's say that he's done it with enough suspects that he's gotten complaints for." Beckett let out a low whistle and Ackerman nods.

"Yep."

* * *

So this has already been posted on Tumblr but I thought I would post it on here as well because I'm actually happy with this.


	2. Two

_**Two**_

Seven months after her first case, Ackerman informs her that Vega is transferring, and she finally feels a weight lift off her shoulders.

After all the sexist comments, some worse than others, she's happy the man is finally gone. Ackerman had told her more than once she didn't have to take his shit, but she felt that had she turned him in, then all she would've gotten was more trouble than it was worth.

She tucks back a lock of hair behind her ear, sighing when she realizes once more that she cut off all her hair, and looks down at the paperwork lining her desk.

"Hey Beckett!" Ackerman calls out. She looks up at him as he crosses the precinct. "New guy starts today."

Beckett smiles and leans back in her chair, stretching her arms behind her. "You don't think I know that, Ackerman?"

Ackerman smiles and ruffles her hair as he passes her. "I think you're gonna like him, Beckett."

Kate looks at him, tilting her head. "Oh god, I can't tell if you're kidding or not."

Ackerman threw a paper clip across the room. "Oh shut it you newb."

"Hey!" She exclaims, grabbing a pencil and pointing it at him as she squints her eyes.

"What did I tell you about that?" Ackerman raises his hands as the elevator pinged, causing him to look up, and Kate to turn around.

The new guy walks in, glancing around the precinct, before seeing Ackerman and heading towards him.

When he saw Kate, however, his eyes light up and he stops at her desk, sitting on the edge. "Hola chica."

Kate rolled her eyes and looked over at Ackerman. "I thought you said I was gonna like this one?"

Ackerman let out a beller and the new guy looked down and headed to his own desk.

Kate rolled her eyes and waited until Ackerman decided to pity the guy and introduce them. "Javier, meet Kate Beckett, youngest to make detective in the history of the NYPD."

Javier's eyes widened and he nodded at her. "Nice to meet you, Kate."

Kate gave him a tight smile. "Nice to meet you too, Javier."

Ackerman's phone rang and they both watched as he wrote down an address and hung up. "Up on 17th street. Esposito, you can ride with Beckett up to the scene." Esposito nodded, his eyes lighting up, as Kate rolled her eyes. They all rode down together in silence, Javier finally turning towards Kate as they reached the car.

"So chica..." Esposito started, leaning against the open car door.

Kate turned towards him. "Yes, Esposito?" She asked, leaning against the car frame.

"You like it here?" He asks, his voice softening a little.

Kate balked, feeling off guard and cocked her head to the side. "Yeah. I've been at this precinct since I started. The people here have helped me through some rough stuff." Esposito's eyes softened and Kate gave him a small smile. "Come on, let's go."

* * *

The case had been open and shut, which had been nice... except for the fact that the victim was a six year old boy, and the murderer was the father who had dropped him out of their fifth story apartment window. Kate barely made it into the alleyway before having to turn away, Esposito fighting to not do the same.

They had interrogated the suspect together, Ackerman wanting to see how Esposito worked, and Kate had rolled her eyes annoyed because Javier had been flirting with her during lighter moments of the case. It had turned out that they worked pretty well together, as surprised as Kate was, and Ackerman told them to head out after the father was sent to booking.

"Nice job today, you two," Ackerman said, setting the file on his desk. "Why don't you take the rest of the night off?"

Kate looked up from her paperwork. "You sure?"

Ackerman nodded. "Yeah, you two head on out. I'll see you tomorrow." Kate and Esposito nodded before standing up and heading towards the elevator.

They stood outside the elevator doors and Kate glanced over at Esposito who hadn't attempted flirting with her since she had had her outburst with the murderer.

"Hey," she murmured, knocking him with her shoulder. Esposito shook his head and looked at her. "Wanna get a beer before we head home?"

He gave her a small smile. "Yeah...that sounds good." Kate returned the small smile and they rode down the elevator in silence.

Esposito started to raise his hand for a taxi when Beckett looked at him. "Espo." She called, and he looked over at her. "Why don't we just take my car?"

Javier looked over at her and nodded, his ears red. "Yeah, sounds good." Beckett rolled her eyes but smiled a little before climbing in the driver seat. The car ride to the bar was silent, Esposito watching out the window.

When they pulled up in front of the bar, they both walked in and up to the counter where they each pulled a seat. They both ordered a beer and Esposito looked over at Kate. "I know you wanna ask why I transferred here."

Kate shrugged "None of my business," she stated, taking a small sip of her beer.

"Well, my partner back at the 54th...he was killed." Javier took another sip and Kate looked over at him. "Asked to be transferred to the 12th after I heard you guys had an opening. What happened to the guy before me?"

Kate pulled unconsciously at her hair. "Sexist bastard," she muttered under her breath, taking a sip of her beer, and hoping Esposito would get the hint.

"Was he bad?" He asked, glancing over at Kate, who sighed.

"Reason I cut my hair," she said, taking a long drag of her beer.

"Bastard," Esposito agreed before taking a drink. Kate smiled and she realized that maybe this guy wasn't so bad after all.


	3. Three

She makes it two and a half years on the force before she gets shot. It had only been to the thigh, but it had gone through a major artery and she had to take some time off to heal.

The first week off had been shared with Esposito, who was on suspension for a week due to an excessive use of force on the guy who had shot her, and sometimes Ackerman who stopped by after a case.

After Espo's suspension was over, she had been left to herself, reading a new Richard Castle novel that had come out right after her shooting and going to Physical Therapy. But finally, after two months, she'd been cleared to go back to work.

When she had pulled up to the crime scene, she rolled her eyes when she sees Espo talking with the new M.E., obviously flirting with her, and she wonders just how long she's been gone.

She walks with a slight limp still, unnoticeable to anyone but apparently Esposito and Ackerman, as she makes her way to the new M.E. and Espo, who lean over the body.

"Dr. Parish, I'd like you to meet Detective Beckett," Espo introduced when Beckett was only a few feet away, causing Dr. Parish to look up at her. Kate smiled at the woman, who had hair almost as short as her own.

"Sweetie, what happened to you?!" Kate stopped and looked herself up and down.

"What do you mean?" Kate asked, looking down at her.

"The limp in your leg. What in the world did you do?"

Kate balked at her before glancing at Espo. "Did you tell her?!" Kate exclaimed, her hands flying to her hips.

Esposito raised his hands. "I didn't tell her nothin'." He said, taking a step towards Kate.

Kate turned towards Dr. Parish. "I got shot in the thigh," Beckett said, her hand subconsciously rubbing near her scar.

"Javi, _this_ is the detective you've been talking about?"

Kate raised an eyebrow at Esposito. "Javi?" She mouthed to him. He ducked his head, looking down at Lanie.

"Javier Esposito, I thought you've been talking about another _male_ detective." Dr. Parish swatted at his leg. "Girl, it's so nice to have another woman here." She said, looking up at Kate. Kate smiled and glanced over at Esposito.

"You have no idea, Dr. Parish."

Dr. Parish rolled her eyes. "Girl, call me Lanie. Dr. Parish is so formal. I hate it." Lanie glanced at Esposito. "I don't know why you would introduce me like that. God, you know I hate that. And Javier, I can introduce myself. I don't need you introducing me to new people." Kate hid her smirk behind her hand as Lanie lectured Espo while going over the body.

"And I swear, Javi, I thought this woman was a man. God, you don't know how to describe people." Javier looked at Beckett and shook his head, a small smile gracing his face as Beckett's shoulders began to shake as she let out a small laugh. Lanie looked up at Kate.

"What?" She asked, looking in between the two. Kate shook her head and waved her hand at her.

"It's nothin'." She said, biting the inside of her lip to keep from laughing. Ackerman came up to the scene then and walked up to the body.

"'Kay, so what do we got?"

Lanie looked up in between the two of them. "This ain't over yet."


	4. Four

_**Four**_

A little under five years after she joins Ackerman's team, he pulls her aside one day after a case, and gives her a small smile.

"What?" She asked, worry seeping into her voice. "The only time you ever give me that smile is when something bad is about to happen. What'd you do?"

Ackerman ducked his head. "Kate." Her breath caught in her throat. Not once had he ever called her by her first name and she knew this was big. "I'm leaving."

Kate flew forward from the counter. "You can't leave!" She exclaimed, her hands flying up on their own accord. "You've been here for fifteen years, you can't just _leave_."

Ackerman set his hands on top of her shoulders. "Beckett, I passed the Sergeant exam. But they offered me a position at another precinct." He fell silent. "And I took it."

Beckett felt tears spring to the back of her eyes. "Lance-"

Ackerman shook his head. "It's your team now, Kate. New guy starts next week. I'll tell Esposito for you." He squeezed her shoulder. "Everything's gonna be okay, Kate." He said before walking out of the break room.

Kate stood there for a moment before heading out to her desk, grabbing her coat and taking the stairwell down to the lobby, where she signed for her cruiser before driving to the morgue.

When she got there, she sat on the stool in front of Lanie's computer, waiting for her to come back from wherever she had went. Not even five minutes later, Lanie walked in and jumped back at the sight of Kate sitting in her seat.

"Girl, you just scared the living daylights out of me."

Kate looked up at Lanie. "Good thing we're in a morgue, huh?"

Lanie squinted her eyes at her."Ha ha. Now what're you doin' down here? Aren't you in the middle of a case?"

Kate shook her head. "Espo and Ackerman arrested the guy earlier. We just finished."

Lanie stopped shuffling through the file she was looking at to look at Kate. "Sweetie, what's wrong?"

Kate looked up from her hands which were bound together in her lap. "Ackerman's transferring to another precinct."

Lanie's eyes softened. "Oh sweetie."

Kate shrugged. "I mean, I knew he was going to pass the test, I just thought he'd move up to Sergeant and stay at the 12th." Kate toed the ground. "This is why I don't like getting attached, Lanie. They always leave."

Lanie bent down so she could look Kate in the eye. "Kate, this has nothing to do with Will. He was an ass if he thought that he could just force you to up and move like that. That was unreasonable and you know it." Kate shrugged again.

"That's it. This calls for a girls night," Lanie said. "I should be done in an hour. Why don't you go check on Javi, see how he's taking it, and then I'll meet you up there in an hour okay?" Kate nodded before standing up.

"Okay." Kate started to walk away before she turned around and engulfed Lanie in a hug.

"Thanks, Lanie."

Lanie squeezed Kate's shoulders. "No problem, sweetie."

* * *

The next week is a rough one for Kate and Esposito. They don't know much about the new guy, only that he's coming up from Narcotics. When he first comes in, however, Kate and Esposito stand in the break room, watching as he goes to his desk.

"Are you kidding?" Espo says, handing Kate her daily cup of coffee.

"What?" Kate asks, looking over at him as she takes a sip of her coffee.

"He's a scrawny Irish boy."

Kate narrowed her gaze at him. "Espo, be nice. I heard he did something really stupid on a major meth case a few months ago and he's been beating himself up ever since. Besides, have you seen yourself?" She asks, poking her elbow into his ribs before heading out to greet the new guy.

The new guy looks up when he hears her heels clicking across the floor, and he gives her a sincere smile.

"Hi, I'm Kevin Ryan." He says, holding his hand out for her to shake. Kate smiles and grabs on to his hand, shaking it.

"Kate Beckett," she says with a smile, dropping his hand. She turned to look at the break room door where Esposito was coming out. "And that's Javier Esposito."

Javi held out his hand to shake Kevin's with. "Kevin Ryan." Ryan said, giving Espo a sincere smile as well before leaning against his desk.

Esposito scrutinizes Ryan for a minute when Kate's phone starts to ring.

She writes down an address on a piece of paper before hanging up.

"Body on 12th boys. Let's go." Espo grabs his jacket and races ahead of them, leaving Ryan back with Kate. Ryan slid on his jacket and walked up to Kate.

"Is he always that bad?" Kate looked from Ryan to Esposito.

"Don't worry, Ryan," Kate started walking towards the elevator. "His bark is worse than his bite."


End file.
